On the ninth day of Christmas....

It was clear and cold. No one is particularly feeling up to dancing....so the nine dancers dancing will have to go to it without us this time.

We are heading to the doctor at 3 to find out exactly what happened to Bernie's knee now that we are home and swelling has gone down.

He can work, except for flying, which is what his business usually requires about three days a week.

Oh boy...this is going to be interesting.

I tweaked my back during Thanksgiving, and now it is really touchy too. I'm hoping to see someone about that soon as well.

As promised, for those of you who are really bored, or really interested, here is the 1000 picture best of 2007 album. Set to one second per picture it is about a fifteen minute show. It doesn't include the pictures I took in Minnesota, or our SLC Christmas pictures. It may take a few moments to open when you click on the link...there are a lot of pictures to load!

I did create a 1,696 picture album in Picasa to include all the pictures. Next year I think I will try to snag my "best of 2008" pictures monthly, then it will be easier to do this yearly.
Maybe by doing it that way I can even get around to writing documentation on the pictures as well.

Organization is a thing of beauty and a joy forever, right?

Tiggie is getting organized.
He has packed up Hart since there wasn't any Christmas stuff to box up this year.

Hart is not so sure this is such a great idea.

There's a lot of post Christmas let down going around as people have gone about the chore of "taking down" Christmas.

Not so much here, but as a suggestion to counter act that cultural tendency, I thought I'd include a link to a woman named Britt-Arnhild in Norway who was kind enough to explain the Scandinavian custom of "Twelve Days of Christmas."
It makes perfect sense to me: Clean the house on Dec 23, bring in the tree December 24, celebrate Christ's birth December 25, then celebrate with friends and family gatherings and gift giving for eleven more days, until Epiphany.
Advent is time of spiritual reflection, Christmas is the time of celebration, and a reasonable twelve days of it at that.
The American day after Thanksgiving until Dec. 25th "Christmas" is an exhausting and confusing 28 days.

Tell the truth: Isn't the night that the Christmas tree goes up really the moment Christmas arrives in your house anyway? How weird is it that it is all anticipation of bunching up and opening gifts (and eating...) that is the Official Christmas Eve/day leads to so much stress and strain. Families divy up trying to fit all the fun into 48 hours, lest some one feel left out.

Imagine twelve days to gather over small events, and small gift giving times. Baby's cranky today? It is still Christmas tomorrow. Got a cold? How about celebrating Christmas on day eleven,when you feel better?
I had friends who were very involved in ministry and had very limited funds. They chose to open gifts on Epiphany, simply because it was cheaper to buy everything for the celebration after Dec. 25th.

I am not Roman Catholic, but I have admired their traditional stance that no decoration is done in the church until Christmas. Really, shouldn't most of the Christmas carols be sung after the birth day proper?

Think about the words....I think you will see what I mean.